PEDIATRICS Vol. 78 No. 2 August 1986, pp. 206-209
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Young, P. C.
Right arrow Articles by Dickerman, J. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Young, P. C.
Right arrow Articles by Dickerman, J. D.

Evaluation of the Capillary Microhematocrit as a Screening Test for Anemia in Pediatric Office Practice

Paul C. Young MD1, Barbara Hamill MT(ASCP)SH1, Richard C. Wasserman MD1, and Joseph D. Dickerman MD1

1 From the Department of Pediatrics, University of Vermont College of Medicine, and the Department of Pathology, Medical Center Hospital of Vermont, Burlington

The capillary microhematocrit test is widely used to screen pediatric patients for anemia. Recently, it has been suggested that this method produces spuriously elevated values compared with venous hematocrits measured by a Coulter electronic counter and might consequently fail to detect children who are truly anemic. To address this issue we studied 66 white children 9 months to 14 years of age whose capillary hematocrits were either below, equal to, or one or two points above the lower limit of normal for age. Venous specimens were obtained simultaneously with the capillary sample; hemoglobin, hematocrit, and mean corpuscular volume results were obtained using a Coulter electronic counter. Using published standards of venous hemoglobin, we determined the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of the capillary microhematocrit in this population of patients with low or borderline values. Twenty of the 66 patients had venous hemoglobin values less than the lower limit of normal. The sensitivity of the microhematocrit was 90.0%; the specificity was 43.5%. The predictive values for a normal (negative) hematocrit was 90.1%; the predictive value for a low (positive) hematocrit was 40.9%. We conclude that the microhematocrit method using capillary blood will miss very few patients with significantly low venous hemoglobin values and is thus an acceptable screening test for anemia. Because it does not require expensive equipment or special skill to obtain the specimen or perform the test, it is ideal for physicians' offices or nonhospital-based clinics.

Key Words: capillary microhematocrit • anemia • office practice

Submitted on August 6, 1985
Accepted on November 27, 1985